Until the voice completely disappeared, the Silvermane Guards once again lined up neatly, and only then did Gepard and Cocolia open their eyes and stand up from the ground again.
Their gazes were firm, heads held high, chests straight, looking at everyone still alive present. Their voices rang out louder and freer than ever before.
"No matter what happened before, it's already in the past. From this moment on, Beloberg will unite as one to resist foreign enemies! Even if the Company truly is unstoppable, we will fight to the last moment, just like our ancestors did!"
"Swear to the death to protect our home and defend our nation! Swear to the death to protect our home and defend our nation!"
The resolute words carried from the Landau family manor all the way to the Iron Guard forbidden zone outside Beloberg City.
Anyone who heard them, without exception, dropped to one knee of their own accord and joined in the oath with their loudest voice.
People all must die someday. Even if doomsday truly comes, Beloberg will choose to die standing.
According to the memory of the Expedition's highest commander, the Interastral Peace Corporation would arrive in less than three months. If the disastrous news of the Expedition is counted in, this time would very likely be pushed forward by quite a bit.
There was no time left to slowly drag things out. The snowstorm of Jarilo had to be removed as quickly as possible, not only to facilitate the mechanical legion's expansion, but also to serve as a trump card.
At a critical moment, it could allow Vera to unleash this incomparably powerful Stellaron and deliver the heaviest blow to the Company.
However, that still faced the unavoidable problem, just who would be the one to retrieve the Stellaron?
Zoe had already developed the Stellaron containment device a month ago, and she repeatedly guaranteed that the process would not be dangerous.
But that, in the end, was only theoretical. And no one could say for sure that a Stellaron so close to the Preservation Aeon would be taken without the Aeon making a move.
Acheron, Vera, and Zoe were special cases, they could be excluded outright. They absolutely could not appear in the Aeon's sight.
Emiya's magic might not fear an Aeon's detection, but the Preservation Aeon was the boss of the Interastral Peace Corporation. If he angered it, and the Corporation decided to go all-out against Emiya, they wouldn't be able to withstand it either.
In short, Emiya could only act as an insurance measure, to step forward and turn the tide only if things reached a critical, desperate juncture.
That left only three candidates, Cocolia, Bronya, and Gepard.
"I am the sinner of the Landau family, and the only one who walks the path of Preservation. Without a doubt, this task can only fall to me!"
The moment Emiya mentioned finding someone to pack up the Stellaron and carry it outside the planet for destruction, Gepard immediately put on a face of sacrificing his life without hesitation and stood up firmly.
"The Supreme Guardian has watched over the Stellaron for many years, suspected of being corrupted by it. Bronya is still too young, unfit for such a heavy responsibility!"
"Though your words make me angry, I really can't refute you."
Cocolia helplessly rubbed her cheek. With those words, Gepard had blocked off her path completely. Even if she wanted to sacrifice herself, it looked like no one would believe her.
"Emiya, but why can't two people go together?" Bronya couldn't refute Gepard's words either, but she wanted to go with him.
For the sake of Beloberg's survival, Gepard had steeled his heart and even destroyed his own family. Bronya also wanted to contribute, at least to make sure Gepard wasn't so alone.
"It is indeed two people, but it'll be me and Gepard." Emiya gave his unquestionable final word, "You all stay home and help Zoe build the defenses properly. Let us two men take care of this one."
As soon as these words came out, the girls present stopped speaking any more useless words.
They understood, to deny a man's resolve was to deny the man himself.
They believed these two men could fulfill the promise they had made. What they needed to do now was simply wait quietly at home for the two men's triumphant return.
Early the next morning, Gepard put on the formal suit his elder sister had given him for his coming-of-age ceremony, a suit he had only worn once before. He waited quietly outside the city for Emiya.
Emiya, too, for the first time in a long while, changed out of his usual clothes. He wore the only item he had brought into this world, the last proof of himself as the Heroic Spirit Emiya, his conceptual armament made from Shroud of the Holy Burial.
"Yo, which girlfriend gave you that outfit?"
Looking at Gepard's obviously somewhat tight, and rather roughly-made suit, Emiya was full of curiosity.
This was, ever since they'd met, the first time he'd seen Gepard in anything other than the officer's uniform of the Guards.
"Heh, my sister sewed this for me with her own hands. She even hid a charm inside."
Finally relieved of his burdens, Gepard laughed openly in front of others for the first time. He laughed with extraordinary joy, like a child, as he reached into the innermost layer of the suit and pulled out the charm to show Emiya.
"If I can come back alive, then I'll put on that uniform again."
"Come on, call me big brother. I'll cover you." Emiya felt Gepard's inner metamorphosis. His evaluation of him, which had already been near its peak, rose yet another several levels.
A man who, through countless hardships, never gave up or despaired, always kept pressing forward, even Emiya, as a fellow man, found him dazzling.
"Mm. Then thank you for the honor, big brother."
With that, Gepard knelt heavily on the ground and resolutely kowtowed to Emiya. "On behalf of all the people of Beloberg, I thank you for giving us the chance to fight with everything we've got!"
"Mm. This is also what you yourselves fought for."
To be honest, when Emiya had first come to Beloberg, he was very disappointed. He had even feared that the sight of this place would dirty Zoe's eyes.
But as he came to know them more deeply, Emiya truly came to like these tenacious, indomitable people. Zoe, too, had gained many rare and precious qualities from their rapid growth.
Just as Emiya had said, when things developed to the point of clashing head-on with the Company, they still hadn't chosen to flee. This outcome was precisely what the people of Beloberg had won for themselves.
Perhaps the people of Beloberg had even moved the Preservation Aeon itself, for the mission to retrieve the Stellaron passed without a ripple.
The expected backlash from the Stellaron never appeared, and the Preservation Aeon made not the slightest move. Not until Emiya carried the Stellaron into space, and the system confirmed the Stellaron had been secured, did he still feel as if in a dream.
'System, do you think this Preservation Aeon could possibly become an ally?' Emiya asked curiously.
[Before the host has the ability to protect himself, it's not recommended to go courting death.]
'Hey, so you can say such humorous, witty things!'
It was as if Emiya had discovered a new continent. He kept pestering the system with questions. But the system seemed annoyed, and never answered him again.
With the Stellaron crisis resolved, what lay ahead was how to deal with the Interastral Peace Corporation's debt collection.
Sampo had put it well, the sum the Builders had once received from the Corporation was astronomical. With Beloberg's financial resources, even if they worked themselves to death making money, they wouldn't be able to pay off the interest, let alone the principal.
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